Synopsis

The International Justice League of Super Acquaintances (IJLSA)

Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy are holding up the line at the Krusty Krab, trying to decide what to order. Finally, Mermaid Man orders a Krabby Patty and a Pipsqueak Patty for Barnacle Boy. Barnacle Boy demands an adult-sized burger, claiming that since he is very old, he should no longer be treated as a child. When Mermaid Man, Squidward, and the Krusty Krab patrons begin to tease him, Barnacle Boy breaks his friendship with Mermaid Man and joins Man Ray and the Dirty Bubble to form a villainous group known as "E.V.I.L." (Every Villain Is Lemons), a group

that does immature criminal acts. Mermaid Man cannot defeat this new threat on his own, so he recruits SpongeBob, Patrick, Sandy, and Squidward (who wasn't willing to join) to reform the "International Justice League of Super Acquaintances." SpongeBob becomes the "Quickster," and is able to run at amazing speed. Squidward becomes "Captain Magma," and gains the power to produce fire and lava. Patrick becomes the "Elastic Waistband," and gains the power to stretch his body to incredible lengths. Sandy becomes "Miss Appear," and can become completely invisible. The Chief {which his name is supposed to be John} (a live-action character who appears on a monitor) informs them that E.V.I.L. is at a teenage gathering spot called Makeout Reef, where they are harassing the teenagers by shining a flashlight on their parked cars while they are making out (including a boy who is kissing his own pillow). Mermaid Man and his team go to Makeout Reef and confront the villains, and, despite numerous advantages, the incompetent Super Acquaintances defeat themselves. Squidward accidentally shoots hot lava on SpongeBob's head, and the later starts running around in circles at super-speed as he burns in pain. Patrick tries to stop him from running, but he gets caught onto SpongeBob, and is launched into a rock. Mermaid Man tries to put out SpongeBob, but mistakes Squidward for SpongeBob and washes him up with a water ball, disintegrating him. Sandy disappears in order to catch E.V.I.L. by surprise, but is hit by a boat from behind and knocked off the cliff. By this time, SpongeBob has completely disintegrated, and all that is left of him are his shoes. Mermaid Man simply falls over backwards. Having "defeated" the heroes, Barnacle Boy demands 3 things of Mermaid Man: that he be treated as a superhero, not a sidekick; that he be called "Barnacle Man"; and that he be allowed to eat an adult-sized Krabby Patty. He then immediately rejoins the side of good, much to Man-Ray and the Dirty Bubble's dismay. Though when the heroes return to the Krusty Krab, Barnacle Boy admits an adult-sized Krabby Patty actually is too big for him. Everyone begins laughing as the episode ends, including SpongeBob and his friends, who are severely injured and supported by medical equipment, Man-Ray and the Dirty Bubble, who are in prison, the Chief was kissing his pillow.

Production

Deleted Scenes

There have been a lot of removed scenes that are found in the storyboard on the 2005 DVD release of Fear of a Krabby Patty. It also went on for 17 minutes instead of 11. They cut a lot out, due to pairing up with "Chocolate with Nuts."

This is the last episode in which Mermaid Man's belt is seen in yellow. After this episode, Mermaid Man's belt is seen in purple from Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy IV in Mermaid Man's later appearances.

After the narrator introduces the International Justice League of Super Acquaintances, he quickly adds, "A subsidiary of Viacom." Viacom owns MTV Networks, which in turn owns Nickelodeon, which produces and airs SpongeBob. The narrator breaks the fourth wall saying "A subsidiary of Viacom." This is also the first time in SpongeBob history that someone mentioned Viacom.

Man Ray is seen wearing the tickle belt as though it were part of his regular costume.

When Squidward is Captain Magma, his catchphrase is "Krakatoa!," which is a reference to an actual volcano called Krakatoa. Krakatoa was a volcano in Indonesia. It was the largest on Earth, until it exploded.

This episode is mistakenly titled on many program guides, cable, and satellite providers as "Superfriends."

Strangely, The Ponderer from "The Bad Guy Club for Villains" is not in this episode, and in return, the Quickster is not in "The Bad Guy Club for Villains."

This episode mentioned that Barnacle Boy's real name is Kyle. However, in "Mermaid Man Begins," his real name was said to be Tim (as a reference to the actor portraying him). Maybe it's because Mermaid Man forgot his real name, or that Kyle is his nickname.

This proves once again that Barnacle Boy dislikes his name. The other episode being "Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy" in which Barnacle Boy says "Will you stop calling me boy?"

The Krusty Krab is never half-dark except for in this episode.

This is often considered the best of the Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy episodes because of a twist in Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy's relationship, many good jokes like the fish making out with a pillow, and the superhero portrayals.

It's strange that Mermaid Man would treat Barnacle Boy like a baby, since they first met when Barnacle Boy was between his teens and young adulthood.

Mermaid Man was originally going to have some kind of mechanical eyes, but they were scrapped.

This episode marks the second appearance of Man-Ray and the Dirty Bubble.

This episode is nearer to 12 minutes in length than 11 minutes.

Cultural references

The "International Justice League of Super Acquaintances" is a parody of the Justice League, The Avengers, The Fantastic Four, The X-Men, and the Super Friends.

The symbol used for E.V.I.L. also looks similar to the symbol for HYDRA, an evil organization in the Marvel universe.

The harassed victims at Make Out Reef John and Nancy, could possibly be a reference to Nancy Gribble and John Redcorn from King of the Hill, as Nancy had an affair with John behind her husband's back.

When Barnacle Boy claims he will turn to the dark side, this is both a reference and a parody of Star Wars.

The Quickster is a parody of the Flash and Quicksilver with the same lightning bolt logo and his outfit resembles Impulse.

Captain Magma is a parody of the Human Torch and Firestorm.

The Elastic Wasteband is a parody of Mr. Fantastic and Plastic Man.

Miss Appear is a parody of the Invisible Woman.

Errors

When SpongeBob is introduced as portraying the Quickster, he has five fingers but he usually has four.

After Mermaid Man yells, "To Make-Out Reef!," he falls over in his chair. In the next shot, when Patrick/The Elastic Waistband says, "Does this mean we're not getting pizza?," his chair is upright again.

On the Krusty Krab menu in this episode there is "Kelp Shake" on the menu. Yet in "Best Frenemies," Mr. Krabs is against the selling of it.

When Dirty Bubble and Man Ray's boat was driving out from the dark side, the license plate was yellow and had black writing. However, when it was shown up close, it was black and had red writing.

When Mermaid Man throws a water ball at Squidward/Captain Magma, he crumbles into ash. When he is seen at the end of the end of the episode, he's only wearing a cone around his neck and is relatively unharmed.

When Patrick is seen at the end, his neck is stretched and looped to an impossible length. When he was battling as The Elastic Waistband, nothing happened to his neck to give him that injury.

The scene when the News Reporter says Every Villain Is Lemons, Villain is misspelled "Villian."

If you look closely, the background around the lunchbox shows the sky of Bikini Bottom, even though its inside a cave.

When Barnacle Boy says he's crossing over to the dark side, the entire line at the Krusty Krab disappears.

When Mr. Krabs is talking to Squidward and says "No world means no money," his right arm is gone.

When Barnacle Man looked from behind the rock, his gloves are gone, but when he rises his gloves are back on.

Mr. Krabs says "Why should I waste money lighting the whole store?" In the next scene, the dark is gone.

Mr. Krabs says "Why should I waste money lighting the whole store?" But the Krusty Krab is a restaurant, not a store. So, he should have said, "Why should I waste money lighting the whole restaurant?"